If English Is Not Your First Language

English Skills Assessment

The English Skills Assessment below allows you to determine your English Language level so we can provide the materials you will need on the course.

English Group 1 “My English is fluent”

English Group 2 “My English is good”

English Group 3 “My English is fair”

English Group 4 “I speak little or no English”

English Group 1: “My English is fluent”

This means that English is your dominant language or you are fully proficient in English. We will provide you with evening discourses in your first language. We suggest that you listen to the discourses in your first language for the deepest understanding of the teachings. If you wish, on the tenth and eleventh days, you may listen in English to the last two discourses. If you feel you are not fluent in your first language any more, please let us know and you may listen to all the discourses in English.

If you are in this group we will most likely be able to accommodate you on any scheduled 10-day course.

When you fill out an application online, please enter that you are “English Group 1” in the last box, the one marked “Anything you wish to add to the above information?”

English Group 2: “My English is good”

This means that English is NOT your dominant language but you could watch a movie in English and describe it in detail in English to a friend. During the course we will offer you the discourses and some instructions in your native language if needed. We will provide the discourses in your own language for the first nine days. If you wish, on the tenth and eleventh days, you may listen in English to the last two discourses or continue to hear them in your own language.

If you are in this group we will most likely be able to accommodate you on any scheduled 10-day course.

When you fill out an application online, please enter that you are “English Group 2” in the last box, the one marked “Anything you wish to add to the above information?”

English Group 3: “My English is fair”

This means that your English is good enough for buying groceries at the store but not for watching a movie in English or describing it to a friend in English. We will contact you to help us prepare materials for you in your native language. We will provide many of the instructions for you in your own language and the discourses in the evening.

If you are in this group we will most likely be able to accommodate you on any scheduled 10-day course.

When you fill out an application online, please enter that you are “English Group 3” in the last box, the one marked “Anything you wish to add to the above information?”

English Group 4: “I speak little or no English”

This means that you are filling out the application for somebody who does not speak English. This student will need to have all the instructions and discourses in his/her own language and a translator for the whole course.

If there is not a bilingual course in this person’s native language, every effort will be made to fit the student into a course, but the centre will have to assess his/her needs and find a translator who has already taken the meditation course to be present for the whole course. We will be able to accept him/her only after we have found a translator.

If you are in this group we will likely be able accommodate you on a scheduled 10-day course.

When you fill out this person’s application online, please enter that the applicant is “English Group 4” in the last box, the one marked “Anything you wish to add to the above information?” Also please put your name, email and telephone number in the same space, so that we may contact you if there are questions about the application.

To apply for a course see the steps below.

How to apply for a course

To apply for a course, please finish reading these steps and then visit the Course Schedule page. When you apply for a course you will first see the Introduction to the Technique and Code of Discipline. Please read it carefully as you will be required to follow it during your course.

Once you have finished reading the Technique and Code of Discipline, fully and completely, fill out all the sections of the application form and submit it. An application is required to register for all courses. You will receive an email confirming your application has been received. This is not a notice of acceptance to the course.

In two weeks or more (due to the large volume of applications) you will receive either an acceptance to the course or a notice that you have been placed on a waitlist because the course is already full. All correspondence will be through email so please provide an email address.

Once you are accepted into the course you will receive an email asking you to confirm your attendance online in order to secure your place in the course. If you do not confirm, your space will likely be given to a student on the waitlist.

If you choose to send a paper application through the mail your application will be accepted in the order received. (Please remember that mailed applications take much longer to receive than applications that are sent electronically.) Please provide an email address in your application so we can respond to you in a timely way.